S&W Rear Sight Too Shallow

[KevinB]

I have a factory 5" 629 .44 that I bought a .250" gold bead front sight for.  I could have gone taller but I have had a hard time finding holsters for tall front sights so I went with the shorter one.  In any case, with the factory rear sight blade I can only see half of the gold bead when I hold a proper sight picture.

 

I have read several threads on a similar or same topic but none directly answered the my question, which is:

What are my options for a rear blade or sight assembly that will have a deep enough notch to see that gold bead I paid a lot for!?  I can upload a photo of the rear sight assembly if necessary.

[Toolguy]

About the only way I've seen is to get a taller rear sight, which then means you need a taller front sight. The factory rear sight blades have varying depth of notch, depending on how tall they are. The .160 tall blade would allow you to see all the bead, but you would probably need a .300 tall front to go with it. About the best you can do is to file the notch deeper on your current rear blade. That will buy you a little more, but not much because the sight blade housing will block the view as you go lower. If you want to make the notch deeper, best results will be had by removing the sight blade for the filing operation.

[alecmc]

Bowenclassicarms.com  makes rear sight replacements with taller rear sight blades

[PatJones]

You can file the rear notch, but I never could seen to keep it perfectly square. I even tried making a custom needle file with 2 safe edges.

I prefer to use a 1/8 inch endmill, it makes the notch perfectly square.

As noted above, I use a .160 rear blade on everything and then fit an appropriately​ sized front sight to match.

[KevinB]

Thanks for the responses!

 

I looked at filing the notch, but it's VERY short to begin with.  I could file it down to the assembly and still not see the whole gold bead.  I did see the references to the Bowen sights, but not a lot of guidance on which I would need for my .250 front (I'm really trying not to buy another ~75.00 part).  I tried looking for factory options, but perhaps my Search-fu was weak then because I didn't come up with anything useful.

 

I'll continue my search and post if I come up with anything.

[alecmc]

4 hours ago, KevinB said:

Thanks for the responses!

 

I looked at filing the notch, but it's VERY short to begin with.  I could file it down to the assembly and still not see the whole gold bead.  I did see the references to the Bowen sights, but not a lot of guidance on which I would need for my .250 front (I'm really trying not to buy another ~75.00 part).  I tried looking for factory options, but perhaps my Search-fu was weak then because I didn't come up with anything useful.

 

I'll continue my search and post if I come up with anything.

 

I've had excellent results using .400 tall rear sights on most all my guns with either a 250 or 300 tall front sight.

 

Measure the height of your current sight, figure how much more you might need and go to the closest size bowen offers. Alternatively, give them a call / email and see what they recommend for your application. 

[KevinB]

I'll give them a call this week.  It's been on my mind for some reason!

[ihocky2]

I just installed LPA sights on my 4" 625 and 6" 929. The 929 I went with a .245" tall front sight and have a ton of adjustment. The 625 has a .300" tall front sight and I am close to bottoming out the rear sight, but have a little room left. I am not sure how tall the base for the front sight is on a 629, I know the 929's is a little taller. Regardless, the LPA has a deeper notch that worked with the dot on an XS tritium front sight, a Hi-Viz fiber optic (which is rather large) and is awesome with the Dawson Precision fiber optic.